Former Binghamton track and field standout Joe Miceli, ‘17, was named the 2016-2017 America East Man of the Year, marking the first time in the history of the award that a BU athlete received the accolade. He is only the second Bearcat to ever be considered a finalist for the award and the first since Viive Rebane, ‘12, of the women’s basketball team, was deemed the runner-up for the 2011-2012 America East Woman of the Year.
“It’s definitely a huge honor for all of the hard work I put in for my five years at Binghamton to come together with this recognition,” Miceli said. “The hard work of everyone around me to help me get to that point, to have it all come together, was really cool.”
The honor recognizes two senior student-athletes (one male and one female) who have best distinguished themselves throughout their college careers. This achievement acknowledges academic success, athletic excellence, leadership and community service.
While enrolled in Harpur College and majoring in integrative neuroscience, Miceli was named to the College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-District Team and was a three-time America East All-Academic selection. He was also inducted into the National College Athlete Honor Society in 2014.
“Time management skills were a huge thing to have, and I think being involved in sports helped me when it came time to do my classroom work because I knew that I only had a certain amount of time allocated each day that I could work on my schoolwork,” Miceli said. “Being an athlete, you’re competitive, so I think my competitive sphere from track transferred over to being competitive in the classroom as well.”
Rigorous academic endeavors did not hinder his abilities and accomplishments on the field. Miceli captured four America East individual titles, qualified for the NCAA East Regional Meet three times and was named all-conference six times. In his most recent meet, Miceli finished off his Binghamton career by placing 19th in the pole vault.
“That [NCAA East Regional Meet] is one of my favorite events of the year because you just get to see the top 48 athletes in every event on the eastern half of the United States … no meet compares to the level of competition that you see there,” Miceli said. “Top 12, I would’ve gone on to nationals, but I competed hard at that meet and jumped the best I’ve jumped in a while.”
Not only did Miceli collect several notable athletic awards and honors as he flourished academically, he was also actively involved in the Binghamton community. Miceli volunteered at the Willow Point Nursing Home, United Health Services (UHS) Pharmacy in Vestal, UHS Binghamton General Hopsital and UHS Wilson Medical Center in Johnson City, in addition to interning for UHS, over the course of his five years at BU.
Miceli said he greatly valued all of the opportunities he had in the community and perceived his experiences as beyond rewarding. Whether it was observing surgeries or helping patients in the waiting room feel more comfortable, these extracurricular activities exposed health care as a potential career field for him.
He will start medical school at the New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine in August, with an interest in orthopedic surgery and a focus on sports medicine.
“Being a pole vaulter, when you are in a competition, you always end with three misses at a bar at any particular bar you’re going for,” Miceli said. “The meet always ends at three failures, so to get this award without ending on a failure was really special and a good way to go out.”